


you broke me first

by ElainaFairchild



Series: Playlist Muses [3]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Arguing, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Gen, Short One Shot, Steve being Steve, Tony Being Tony, What else is new
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:48:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27802543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElainaFairchild/pseuds/ElainaFairchild
Summary: Steve and Co. accepted Tony's offer of lunch, and afterward Steve and Tony step outside for a chat.
Relationships: Steve Rogers & Tony Stark
Series: Playlist Muses [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2011270
Kudos: 2





	you broke me first

**Author's Note:**

> written while listening to you broke me first by Tate McRae

They’re sitting on the wooden steps of Tony’s front porch, looking out into the quiet forest that surrounds them. The silence between them is fraught with tension but otherwise it’s a peaceful scene—idyllic, really.

Steve makes the first attempt to disrupt the quiet.

“She’s a cute kid, Tony.”

Stark snorts. “Of course she is, she’s got Pepper’s genes.”

Steve wants to ask why Tony decided he wanted a kid when he never seemed like the type before, but he knows that way leads to another fight, so he settles on, “Thank you for inviting us for lunch.”

Tony looks at Steve shrewdly, in that way Stark knows he detests the most. Tony looks at him like Steve is an experiment or an engine, and Tony is mentally picking him apart.

“What do you want, Rogers?”

“We already told you—”

Tony snorts again, cutting him off. “I don’t give a damn about your ridiculous time travel plan. I want to know why you’re here, trying to insert yourself into my life again.”

Steve flounders, making a conscious effort not to gape at the man next to him. “I’m not trying to ins—”

Tony levels a glare at him and the words die in his throat. “This is what you always do, Rogers. You charge in, not a care in the world for how you’re affecting the people around you, and you just expect everyone to follow you without question. I’ve finally managed to put a life together for myself and here you are again, like nothing has changed.”

Steve’s jaw clenches and releases rhythmically a few times before he can reply. “There was a time when I would have called us friends. I was hoping we could work toward that again someday. You said that you missed us.”

“Yeah, well I’ve seen how you treat your ‘friends.’ Maybe that’s not a future I want for myself. And I was mostly talking about Romanoff, anyway.”

Steve rolls his eyes even as he feels himself getting aggravated. “I know we’ve had our differences, Tony, but I have _never_ stopped being there for you.”

“Oh, and I have?” Tony asks sardonically. “Also, you sure took your sweet time _getting_ there, you know.”

Steve sighs, the fight leaving him in a rush. He hangs his head and stares down at his palms. “What do you need from me, Tony? What can I do to prove that all I want is to go back to how things were?”

“That’s it, right there,” Tony says harshly, snapping his fingers. “You’re always stuck in the past, Rogers. Sometimes you just need to let go. Move on. There is no going back.”

Steve is silent, eyes closed now. Tony stands, joints popping and creaking with age as he rises. He stares down at the blond man for a few moments, considering. Finally, he shakes his head and sighs, slapping Rogers on the shoulder.

“Glad you enjoyed lunch. Don’t kill yourselves trying to pull off your ‘time heist.’”

Tony heads inside, but Steve remains for a while longer, staring out into the woods and remembering.


End file.
